The Prank
by smiley011095
Summary: Sirius is pranked. In other words, something happens to his precious hair. But the condition of his hair isn't Sirius' main problem. His problem is that he's fallen in love with the pranker. Sirius/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **Yeah, right. I wish I was JK Rowling. Don't own anyone but Minerva Stewart.

**A/N: **Just a precaution. The OC in this story, Minerva. Is just that, an OC. Not Minerva Mcgonagall. Sorry if I confused you.

--

In the middle of the night, two girls snuck into the Gryffindor boys dormitory. Sweeping their eyes over the entire room, they finally spotted their sleeping prey. They silently crept over to his bed. Stifling their laughter, one of the girls took out their wand. There was a flash of bright light and the girls quietly made their way back to their own dormitory.

--

_"WHO DID THIS!"_

I woke up to the glorious screech of Sirius Black, which could be heard from where I was sitting, and that was a _long _way off from the person who had uttered this most glorifying screech. Biting my lip to contain my laughter, I sat up, yawned and looked around curiously like I didn't know what had happened. I got up and got dressed and did everything I usually did before breakfast and hurried to get down to the Great Hall.

I'd figured that Sirius was one of those types of boys that wouldn't give up a meal for anything. So, I wasn't surprised to see him down there. I also wasn't surprised to see what had become of his hair. Well, technically, absolutely nothing had happened to his hair, except that it had been moved...from the scalp of one teenage boy to the floor of one very messy boys' dormitory. He sat there, sulking and glaring suspiciously at anyone that walked pass him and snickered.

Then, he spotted me. He immediately stood up, the light glinting off his shiny head like a new Galleon. I smiled.

"Hey, _Minerva_," he said as he put an arm around my shoulders. My name was said through clenched teeth. I could tell he was trying very hard to keep a smile on his face and not explode.

Of course he'd suspected me. We hadn't been the best of frie- okay, so we hated each other. The first time we met was when I, being oh so clumsy, fell down the stairs and broke the tiniest tip of a twig of his precious new broomstick. Boohoo. We'd been arguing from then on.

"Hey, Sirius," I said nonchalantly. Can't give anything away, now can we?

"Yes, I was just wondering if I could speak to you, _outside_?"

"Oh? But what could you possibly have to say to me that you couldn't say in front of the whole school?" I asked in my wouldn't-hurt-a-fly-ever-so-innocent voice.

"You'd be surprised." He was still talking through clenched teeth, and I was still trying to keep from bursting into hysterical laughter every time I took a peek at his shiny scalp. He grabbed my upper arm and practically dragged me out of the Great Hall.

--

Once we found a vacant classroom, we walked in and shut the door behind us. I was smiling as if there was nothing wrong and Sirius was grumbling. I caught the words 'baldness' and 'dirty rotten' more than a couple of times.

After some minutes' silence, Sirius spoke up, glaring at me through squinting eyes, "I know you did this to me."

"Did what?"

"DID WHAT? DID _THIS_!" he said, pointing to his head.

"What? I had the impression that you decided to become a Tibetan monk or something."

"Not funny. Do you know what'll happen to the female population of Hogwarts? They'll be devastated!"

"You are _so_ conceited."

"I oughta hex you for this!"

I sighed. We'd had duels before and I honestly think that we're evenly matched because neither one of us ever managed to beat the other.

"I don't have time for this!" I looked at my watch(which was a gift from one of my mum's muggle relatives) and suddenly noticed that I was going to be late for Transfiguration.

"Are you scared I'm going to win this time?"

" No, look," I showed him my watch.

"What's that?"

Oh, right. He's pureblood.

"It tells time. And right now, it says that we should be in class. So, I got to go. Bye"

I walked out, slamming the door behind me.

--

No doubt Sirius went to Madam Pomfrey for this because the very next day, all his hair was back. He wouldn't speak to me for about a week, and I was perfectly fine with that. No arguing, no Sirius, no surprise pranks, no Sirius, no aggravation, no Sirius, no Sirius, no Sirius...

**A/N: **Thanks for reading! If everyone who read this reviewed, I'd have 142 reviews by now. Oh well.


	2. Chapter 2

One week. One glorious week where Sirius did not exist. Where water balloons filled with dog urine(where did he get those?) didn't come crashing down while I'm eating dinner.

But, alas, this week was short-lived. Today at dinner(no, surprisingly, it wasn't a dog urine water balloon), Black decided I needed a bucket of slugs dumped on my head. No use lying about it, I shrieked. Yes, that's right, I shrieked. Ah, me. All those years of telling people to butt out cause I could take care of myself, wasted, because of that oh so disgustingly girly shriek.

"SIRIUS BLACK!"

That cheater, he got a head start. I didn't bother taking out my wand. I was going to handle this the way I handled my Muggle cousin. I took off running after him. Thumbs on the side of my fingers, not under or over, when you punch. But, he was always just a bit out of my reach, and I was really tired today.

"YOU'RE DEAD BLACK!" I screamed after him. But it was lost, I'd just eaten, my sides were beginning to hurt.

--

The next day, I cornered him after class.

"Hey, Minerva. You look nice, did you do something to your hair?"

"No actually," _but I'm thinking of doing something to your face, _I thought.

"Well, I would just like to apolo- "

"Wait, apologize? _Apologize_? You've got to be kidding me!"

"Uh, well, no. I wasn't kidding, actually."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah. Right."

And, I left, too confused to remember that I'd been about to hex him.

--

Oh, well. I decided Sirius just wasn't worth wasting the time to hex. I let him off this time.

I sat down in my normal seat, waiting for Professor Mcgonagall to get here when someone cupped their hands(that smelled like rain and wet grass) over my eyes.

"Guess who?" asked the person in very low voice.

"Hmmm...Marlene?"

Whoever it was released their hands immediately and said, "_Marlene_?! What in bloody _hell _made you think I was Marlene? Does my voice sound like a gir- "

Right then, I'd turned around, smirking. It was Sirius. Of course it was. I'd known from the beginning. And as soon as he'd seen my glorious smirk, he'd shut his mouth, staring dumbly at me.

He opened his mouth, index finger up like he was reprimanding me. Then, he closed it again and lowered his arm, a very confused look on his face. And what a time for Mcgonagall to arrive.

"Sit down, Mr. Black!"

He looked across the room at the other Marauders. A girl had taken his seat, a girl that was inching closer and closer to James while James was inching farther and farther away. Then, he did the inevitable, he inched too far and bumped into Remus. Poor James, there's no escape for him. Then, I turned back to see...Black in the seat right next to me. Oh god. Bloody Black is now being a copycat. Inching towards me because he knew I'd inch away. I turned back to Mcgonagall and decided I'd ignore him.

Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes. Why was the world turning so damn slow! I couldn't pay attention to the professor. I didn't have to look to know that Sirius' left hand was crawling over to my right one. Sometimes, he'd be as tactless as to do absolutely nothing to hide the fact that he was inching his hand toward mine. Sometimes, he'd pretend to sneeze and place his hand just a bit farther down the desk. Finally, I couldn't take it any more.

"Could you bloody stop that!"

"Stop what?"

"Stop-stop-stop _that_."

"Stop _what_?"

"Ms. Stewart, Mr. Black. You are disrupting my class! Fifth years acting like second years! Sit down! Honestly. Three points each from Gryffindor."

We both sat, grumbling a bit. And being generally bad tempered.


	3. Chapter 3

During the course of the next week, I found that Black was being really very disturbing, not that he normally wasn't, but that he was being exceptionally disturbing, even for him. He keeps popping up randomly and scaring me bloody half to death. For example, I'm walking to Potions when all of sudden, "Hey, Minns!" And then, I would drop all my books and yell at him and then, he would hug me, then sprint away. Oh, he didn't think I noticed but he does this on purpose. And no, I am _not _being paranoid. He always has that glint in his eye. The one he has when he's about to jinx Snivellus. And, no, I do _not _watch Sirius when he's about to jinx Snivellus. Oh my _god_. He's driving me insane like this.

He's taken to sitting next to me. He's taken to _accidently-on-purpose _bump into me in the hallway then catch me by the waist, smirk, and leave. I SWEAR! When I get my hands on him I'll-I'll-I'll-well, I don't know what I'll do, but he's going to-to not want to-to-he's going to have wished he'd never been born. Yes! That's right. Yes.

--

Oh gosh, I just saw him again. And this time, he told me I look beautiful today. He told me I looked _beautiful _today. What's he playing at? You don't just randomly come up to your childhood enemy and give them compliments. No, it's just not done!

--

The next morning, I looked in the mirror. His words echoed, over and over again. "Hey Minns(he'd taken to calling me that), did I ever tell you that you look beautiful today?" That twit. He knows perfectly well I am not nor will I ever be beautiful. I looked at my reflection again. Limp black hair? Check. Dark brown eyes? Check. Pimples? A few, yes. Check. That dirty liar. That evil rat. Trying to make me feel terrible just because he's so good-looking and all that and I'm not. Oh, no. No. I did _not _just say that. You can't prove it! You have no proof!

--

As the week progressed, the situation was getting steadily worse and worse until I had no choice but to turn to the only decent Marauder there was, Remus.

"Remus! Oi, Remus!" I caught him just as he was about to go up to the boys' dorm.

"Yeah, Minns?"

"First of all, don't call me that. It reminds me of, well-that's what I wanted to speak to you about."

"You wanted to tell me to stop calling you Minns?"

"No, well yes, ummm...no _and _yes. Stop calling me Minns but that's not the most important thing I came to you for."

"Well, what is it?"

"It's Sirius."

"What about him?"

"He's crazy."

"I knew that already."

"No, I mean seriously disturbed."

"He's always Siriusly disturbed."

I stared at him, appalled that Remus was acting like this. Then, I remembered that he was a Marauder too.

"Remus, this is no time for jokes. Sirius is being very...er, strange. He-he's telling me I look beautiful and-and he gave me a rose the other day. And he's sitting next to me in class. I can't concentrate when his hand's inching slowly towards mine!"

"Inching slowly towards your hand?"

"Inching slowly towards my hand!"

He nodded slowly with his left eyebrow raised like _I _was the strange one. It did sound crazy, but it was true.

"Alright, I'll talk to him later."

"Thanks."

And he left, leaving me standing at the foot of the staircase, alone at 11:00, watching the last remaining embers of the fire die.

--

**A/N**: haha. paranoid Minerva. hope you liked this chappie. good night.


	4. Chapter 4

I don't know what I was expecting. Maybe, I thought just because I asked Remus to talk to Sirius that he would actually do it. I thought maybe Sirius would go back to his normal(well, as normal as Sirius can get) self. Well, he didn't.

--

It was 4:30 in the morning, and needless to say, I was asleep. Oh how stupid of me, oh how dreadfully stupid of me. Marauders, having been five years at Hogwarts, of course they'd figure out eventually how to get into the girls' dorms. Of course. Why hadn't I seen this coming? Why hadn't I padlocked the windows. Why, oh why?

Well, anyway, it was four bloody thirty in the bloody morning when I heard a "clack", coming from the window. Of course, I woke up. I thought nothing of the sound. Maybe it was some dumb bird that doesn't know not to fly into walls or something like that. But, when the whatever-it-was "clack-ed" again, I got annoyed. _Stupid bird, you're not supposed to fly into walls!_, I thought (please don't judge me on what I think at 4:30 in the morning). After a few more "clacks", I decided I would set this bird straight and direct it to the nearest tree so it could stop hurting itself and keeping me awake. Ironically, the nearest tree just _happened _to be the Whomping Willow. To my surprise, when I opened the window, I found not a very confused and disoriented bird, but one Sirius Black on a broomstick. Okay, now _I_ was the confused and disoriented one.

"Uh..."

"So stunned by my handso-"

"Oh, shut up. Why are you here?"

"Well, I was getting bored, so I decided I wanted to see what kind of pajamas you wear."

I looked down. Oh, god. I was wearing my fluffy bunnies pajama top and my candycane pajama bottoms. I couldn't scream at him without waking everyone up, so I did the next best thing. I slammed the window in his face and let down the curtains. You know, it was at times like these that I forgot I lived in the wizarding world. The next thing I knew, Sirius had the window open and had flown in. I was debating in my head whether to push him out the window or not when he walked over to me. He looked completely serious(no pun intended) for a second, and then that glint in his eye was there again, like it'd never left.

"Do you think Anastasia likes me?"

"You want to wake her up and ask her yourself? On second thought, get out of here. I need to sleep."

"But-"

"Get out," I said in my don't-mess-with-me voice. He left, no questions asked.

--

**A/N: **Sorry for the short chapter. Had a lot of homework


	5. Chapter 5

Sirius was unbelievable. His way of getting Anastasia to notice him was to walk right up to her and...ugh. You _don't _want to know, seriously. I almost threw up watching...not that I _was _watching or anything. Nope, not me. Half the girls in Hogwarts however, broke into tears. I seriously(no pun intended, _ever_, unless I say so) didn't know what they could possibly see in him. I noticed that some of the boys in our year looked kind of crestfallen as well. I looked at the pair. Hmmm...Ugly, conceited, stupid dimwits, vain, shallow. They deserved each other. I was fuming inside and I was resisting the urge to get up and throw a piano(not that there was one. But that problem is easily remedied...) at them, or at least Anastasia. Wait, what? Wasn't I supposed to say "or at least boil Sirius alive" ? Ugh. No time to wonder, it's time for class.

--

God hates me. Yes, God hates me. Thank you, God, I hate you too. Send me a falling piano for Christmas, won't you? Now, the problem at hand. I was stuck in double History of Magic. Oh, but that isn't so bad, right? Wrong. Sirius and Ana-what's-her-face was sitting _right in front of me_. Argh! He has his arm around her in an oh-so-casual-but-still-stating-that-she's-my-girlfriend-that-a-lot-of-other-guys-like-so-I'm-gonna-show-her-off way. UGH! It's driving me _insane_! Did I say that already? No, no, I said that before but this is so completely different from last time. I'm watching him. Closely. He just leaned down. To smell her hair. Then muttered something that sounded like,"Mmm...honey." Oh my GOD! That's why my shampoo bottle is empty! That little thief! I know she stole it because my shampoo was the only one that was honey-scented! The only one! I glowered. I looked menacing. I glared. But they didn't seem to notice.

--

It was nearing Christmas break. And I swear, it was like Sirius and Anastasia were trying to torture me. Every time I turned a corner, there they were, under the mistletoe.

--

Oh, not again. There they were. Oh, God! I covered my eyes and walked. I didn't get far. Left, right, left, right, left, boom, fall, ouch.

"You know, it's not very smart to walk with your hands over your eyes."

I peeped through my fingers and gave a little gasp. It was Sirius.

"Get out of the way, Sirius. I need to get back to the Common Room," I said in a very tired voice.

"Need or want? They're two different things."

"Okay, so what do you want from me?"

"Nothing." I hated his eyes. I hated them. There's that glint. Evil, I tell you. Evil!

I pushed past him but he caught me by the arm first.

"I want to talk to you." There he goes again. The second time in the whole of our years at Hogwarts has he looked completely serious.

But suddenly, I was angry. I was angry for no particular reason at all. I was angry because he was gripping my arm so tightly. I was angry at Anastasia for being such a stupid idiot. I was angry at Sirius(again) because he insisted on being there when I least wanted to see him.

"Let go." I gave him my best glare. It was infamous, known for sending first years running and crying. I saw Sirius flinch, but apparently, that was the only effect my glare had on him.

"No." I was surprised, to say the least. No one's ever _not _backed off when I use my evil, don't-get-in-my-way voice plus the glare. It was an unbeatable combo. Darn.

"Let go!" I had my wand out, and Sirius was eyeing it. I think he was surprised to see I'd actually pulled one out on him. It didn't happen often. Usually, it was him that started it. He let go, but not before he got out his wand as well.

I ran, as fast as I possibly could(and I was pretty darn fast). I looked back for a second. He was just standing there. Arms hanging limply by his side. He looked tired, not as energetic as he always seemed to be. Guilt flashed for a second, but then, it was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

I ran all the way to the Common Room. But when I got inside, Sirius and the rest of the Marauders were there already. Sirius must have used some secret passageway. I walked past them, not looking, but Sirius was staring at me. I could feel his eyes watching me. When I got to the foot of the staircase to my dorm, he stopped, and I stole a glance back. They were laughing their heads off at some stupid thing James had said. I sighed and walked up.

--

All the next week, Sirius took it upon himself to be my personal stalker. Oh, joy(in case you can't tell, I'm being extremely sarcastic here.) I don't know how, but he had somehow obtained a copy of my schedule. But wait, it gets better. After every class, there he is, waiting for me outside the door. Usually I just run past him. But Sirius is almost as fast as I am. Almost. Not quite.

--

I was panting. I'd just made it into Transfiguration. The bell rang and Professor Mcgonagall walked into the class carrying a large bird cage with about ten parakeets inside. About a minute later, as she was explaining the spell that was going to turn the parakeets into books, Sirius arrived, strolling in casually.

"Mr. Black! Is there a reason you are tardy to my class?"

"Why, of course, Minerva," I flinched; I hated that Mcgonagall and I had the same name, "I was simply late because I had to attend to a medical emergency."

"And what would that be, Mr. Black?"

"You see, Professor..." He made up some extraodinarily detailed but obviously fake tale of how he and James had been attacked by some "fire-breathing, giant, flying, purple hippo." Mcgonagall gave him detention. No surprise there.

"Get to your seat, Mr. Black."

He plopped down next to me. Again, no surprise there, I'd grown accustomed to it. I _was _surprised however, when he winked at me and said, "Thanks for skipping class with me, Minns."

Now, this was a complete lie. I was a model student(except when I'm jinxing Sirius, of course). I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Excuse me?"

"You know, last period, when we had History of Magic. You skipped with me and we snuck out to Hogsmeade remember?" What was he talking about? I have never done any such thing. And even if I had, wasn't he supposed to be great at not getting caught? Why was he spouting these lies while sitting in the front row where Mcgonagall could hear?!

"Mr. Black, please quiet down! You are disrupting my class, as usual." The last comment was more to herself than to him. But Sirius didn't stop spouting lies.

"And remember the time we were out past curfew sneaking into the Forbidden Forest?"

Of course, Mcgonagall caught what Sirius had said. "Excuse me? Am I hearing correctly, Ms. Stewart?"

"No, no!"

"Of course, Minns. Don't you remember?"

Darn you Black, for being such a good actor. I stared at him, wide-eyed and confused. I guess Mcgonagall took this as a confirmation on my part because the next words to come out of her mouth were, "Well, then detention for the both of you. My office, Friday night at eight. Really, I wouldn't have expected this from you Stewart." I tried to say something, but Mcgonagall had already turned back to the class and the moment was lost. There was no way I could change her mind. I sent Sirius my I'll-kill-you-as-soon-as-possible glare, it's patented. But he just smirked. He's so dead.

--

**A/N: **haha. Minerva got a detention. thanks for reading. the next chapter will be what Sirius and Minerva did on this oh-so-wonderful detention...


	7. Chapter 7

This wasn't (surprisingly) my first detention. My first detention had been in first year when I'd "accidentally" pushed Black into the Lake. Unfortunately, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher that was then (not anymore) employed, saw me. This was, I think, my fifth detention.

--

I walked down the halls, sighing. I had a lot of homework due tomorrow. Hmmm...I wonder if it can be called homework if we're not actually doing it in our actual home. Well, anyway, Mcgonagall's office was just around the corner. Left, right, left, right, left. I knocked. The door opened (which would be common courtesy for the door-opener). I sighed again. Sirius was already there; I'd hoped he'd be late so I would at least have a few moments of peace, but God is very unkind. He was lounging on one of the chairs that were facing Mcgonagall's desk, feet propped on the desk on top of what appeared to be tomorrow's lesson plans. I noticed that they already had some black shoe prints on them. I couldn't help but to laugh a little. Regrettably, that added more gas to his already pumped up head. He gave me one of his I'm-so-cool smirks. I frowned at him. He kept smirking.

Just when I was about to tell Sirius to wipe that stupid grin off his face, I heard a small cough. I turned around to find...Mcgonagall. Oh, right, the detention. I'd totally forgotten for a moment there.

"Come with me, Stewart, Black." We were led to some empty classroom, then Mcgonagall handed us a large stack of papers.

"You are to grade these papers. They're by first years so try not to be too harsh. Hand me your wands."

I reluctantly reached for mine because, with a sinking heart, I realized that I wouldn't be able to hex Sirius as soon as I would have liked. Sirius handed his in without argument, I guess because he'd gone through this so many times, he knew there was no way out of it.

"Thank you, I'll be back in two hours, then you may go to bed," and she left, shutting the door behind her.

--

Fifteen minutes into grading papers and Sirius decided he wanted to say something...or act like a maniac.

"Hey, look! A Slytherin! Muahahahahahahahaha! You fail! You fail!"

"O-kay then...Sirius, what have you eaten today?"

"Well, it was nothing...POIPLE!" Here, he laughs hysterically. I guess it's an inside joke.

I inched a little further away.

"Sorry, that was random."

_Oh, really (sarcasm)? _I thought. "So, what _did _you eat today? And why is the word purple making you laugh?" Here he laughed hysterically, again.

"It's an inside joke." Ha, I was right.

"Sirius, give me that Slytherin's paper."

"Why? Are you going to grade him fairly?"

"Yes."

"No!"

"Give it." Sometimes, Sirius reminded me of some disobedient little puppy, whiny and rebellious.

"Never!" He took the paper and ran around the room and I ended up chasing after him.

"Sirius whatever-your-middle-name-is BLACK!" I ran as fast as I could. I managed to grab onto his cloak but also at the same time, trip over a chair.

He only had time for a, "Wha- ," before I fell on him.

--

**A/N: **I apologize to the people who read this before I figured out my mistake. Sorry, for that and the cliffhanger, it just kind of happened...


	8. Chapter 8

I hit my head on a desk the first time I tried to get up. Stupid desk. I take this as full proof of your treachery. I'll never sit there again, ever! My second attempt was better...except that I tripped right after I got back up again. Ah, me. Third attempt, was not really an attempt. Black helped me up, and just so you know, I wouldn't have accepted his help if he hadn't wrapped his hand so tightly around my arm.

"What the bloody hell, Minns?"

"What?"

"You fell on top of me."

"Oh, _really_. I hadn't noticed. Thanks for clearing that up Sir _Obvious_."

"But, that means- " Here he looked kind of puzzled then said, "Wait, huh?"

I rolled my eyes at him. Then, all of a sudden, I was reminded why I was supposed to be angry at him. "WHY DID YOU GET ME A DETENTION?"

"You fell on me because I got you a detention?"

"Ah-ha! You admit it!"

"Of course I admit it, I thought I'd made it pretty _obvious_ that I was intentionally getting you into detention."

"Huh? But-but-but _why_?"

"Cause detention's more fun when there's more than one, darlin'."

I stared at him. "Black, you're abnormal."

"That's a good thing."

I took a textbook and started smacking him with it.

"AH! Ow! Argh! Stop it! That hurts, woman!"

"That's the point, woman!" I said, still smacking him.

"Wait, did you just call me a woman?"

"Yes, yes I did." I was still smacking him.

--

When Mcgonagall came back, she found me sitting quietly, putting the finishing touches to a Ravenclaw's paper, and Sirius Black crouching in fear behind a desk. I almost laughed.

--

**A/N: **Eh, well, no new chapters Thursday or Friday, I'll be out camping and there's no space in my bag for a laptop. Sorry peoples.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day, we left for Christmas break. When I got into my compartment, I felt so relieved to be going home, where there are no teachers or homework or anything. I can just relax for the week.

--

So much for relaxation, that's out the window now. Guess what. The Marauders just walked through the door of this compartment. Oh my god.

--

Surprisingly, Sirius didn't say much the whole trip. He just seemed to be sulking and sometimes muttering under his breath. Sometimes I caught several words, like "mother" or mostly "she-devil". I was sulking too because a _certain person in the room _whose intials are _JP_ is being _very _loud and I couldn't get any sleep. I decided to give up about two minutes later just as Potter said, smiling, "So, Padfoot, excited to see your dear old mum?"

"I'd sooner see her die. No, wait, boiled in oil." The Marauders burst into laughter, all except Sirius.

Well, that was a pretty mean thing to say, especially about your own mother. Wow, I wonder what she did.

"Why do you hate your mum so much, Sirius?" I asked.

"You'd hate her too, if you ever met her. Don't meet her."

And, at that exact horrible moment, in walked Ana-what's-her-face.

"There you are, Siri-poo! I've been looking all over the place."

I rolled my eyes at them, but I couldn't help smiling a bit when she called him "Siri-poo".

"So, Sirius," I said, "explain to us how you came to be called 'Siri-poo'."

Sirius turned scarlet, but Ana-what's-her-face Jones said,"It's none of your business, _Stewart_." She spat my name like it was some toxic poison or something. I guess she noticed how Sirius stalked me all last week. And then, I got a brilliant idea.

I looked at Sirius and batted my eyelashes trying to look the way his "fanclub" did when he passed by. Jones noticed.

"Sirius, why are you hanging out with _her_. You could do _so _much better." Acting class had definitely paid off. I swear, Anastasia's face would have been warm enough to melt Greenland. She looked back and forth between me and Sirius. When he only gave her a blank look, she shrieked, "How _DARE_ you! Sirius! LET'S _GO_!" And with that, Sirius' evil girlfriend dragged him off to another compartment.

The other Marauders stared at me but otherwise seemed unscathed by this. Only Remus had anything to say and it was,"Uh, o-kay then. Yeah." And he gave me this weird look that said, "What the hell, Minerva?" I'll explain to him later what I was doing.

--

**A/N: **Haha. I going to torture Minerva next chapter. I'm so evil. Review please, but I don't really want to turn into one of those writers that threaten people to do that. Okay, rephrase, review if you liked it. Or absolutely hated it. Criticism is welcome.


	10. Chapter 10

"My vacation was nice. Except that Sirius' owl wouldn't stop bothering me when I didn't respond to his letter. It has _really _sharp claws," I said. It really did. You would understand why I didn't respond if you read the first sentence:

Minns,

I know you're ecstatic to hear from me, practically the most good looking person in the whole world, but please try to stifle your excitement while you read this letter...

He was trying to get me to apologize to Anastasia because apparently, she'd been acting very paranoid lately.

"Okay, but I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Well, why were you flirting with Sirius on the train? It seems...extremely unlike you."

"To annoy Ana-what's-her-face," I smirked thinking about her expression, "and get them out of the compartment."

"Wait, who?"

I'd gotten so used to calling her that in my mind, that I guess I just instinctively said it. "Oh, Jones."

He gave me this look that told me he was analyzing exactly what I'd said and turning it over to see if there was some kind of hidden meaning to them.

"You're jealous," he finally said.

"WHAT?"

"You're jealous of her. Why else would you hate Jones so much."

And Sirius walks by.

"AH! It's her!" And runs away.

Remus gave me a look (he seems to do that a lot). "Min, what'd you do to him?"

"I sent him a Howler at two in the morning. I'm guessing it exploded in his face. It might also have to do with the fact that I beat him to a pulp in detention the week before break."

"Should I be concerned for his physical well-being?"

"No, but you shouldbe concerned for his _mental _well-being."

"When am I ever not?"

--

I was hunting. Not for animals, not for Sirius Black, but for James Potter. I finally understood why Lily hated him so much. I ran around the third floor a couple of times, always searching. "James Potter, when I catch you, you're dead," I muttered under my breath.

You see, Mr. Loud-Mouth Potter here had told everyone he knew, and I mean _everyone_ (which includes, haha, the professors) about my so-called flirting with Black. You see why I have to kill him. Hmmm...it'll be nice having two Marauders being utterly terrified of me. Just get the other two (which wasn't hard) and I can rule the school with an iron fist. Won't that be pleasant. As I was thinking about my plans for school domination, I heard voices around the corner.

"You think she's still tailing us?"

"I don't know. Moony had the map."

"At least she won't see us." Those were definitely the voices of Potter and Black. I quietly peeked around the corner. Then, I heard a stifled gasp. I looked around, and no one was there.

--

The next day, James Potter came down with a curious case of the flu that turned his skin blue. I have no idea how that happened and you certainly won't find evidence of me researching color changing spells in the library. Nor will you find evidence that I woke up in the middle of the night and snuck into the boys' dormitory(again) or that I Obliviated the only witness(which just happened to be Pettigrew) to the crime I did _not _commit.

--

Only one good thing came from the rumors, and it was that Anastasia broke up with Sirius. But that was because she accused him of cheating on her with me. He didn't deny it. And I was going to have to kill him for that.

--

"Hey, Stewart! I heard you were dating Black!"

"ARGH! HEY! COME BACK HERE, YOU! HEY!" Poor person. Everyone else had already used up my patience, and I was looking for something to take my anger out on, that something was just supplied in the form of a very unfortunate Hufflepuff.

--

The rumors continued. I had to set a lot of people straight. For some strange reason, about half the school was terrified of me by New Year's. So I decided that my New Year's resolution would be to be nicer...Yeah, right.

--

**A/N: **yay! tenth chapter!


	11. Chapter 11

The dream started pretty normally. Well, that was weird, usually my dreams are pretty...strange, to put it mildly. Slughorn was lecturing us and I was falling asleep, oh wait, that actually happened. Okay, so I guess the dream started when the dungeon changed into Mcgonagall's office. She was reprimanding me and Sirius about something we did. Sirius was smirking like he does when he gets in trouble(he actually _likes _it, for some reason). I was just leaning against the wall nodding at Mcgonagall when I felt I should with the occasional, "No, we won't." I'll have to wonder later what it was "we" did. I'm sure my dream included it, but I guess I forgot.

Well, anyway, Mcgonagall was talking and talking and talking when suddenly she left in a huff. I don't remember why. Sirius was staring blankly at the wall, and after several uncomfortable seconds, I snapped my fingers in front of his face to wake him up. To this he replied, "What?" Then, the scene changed. We were in the Gryffindor Common Room, and the Gryffindors were partying like crazy. Sirius walked up to me and said, "Wanna dance?" in his really I-think-I-own-everything voice. I turned my back on him and he went off to dance with Jones.

Then, my dream turned into what it should've been, completely and utterly absurd. Sirius had hopped onto the table, had somehow changed into a kilt, obtained a bagpipe, and was doing an Irish step dance...

--

After being completely creeped out by my own dream, and waking up exactly as Slughorn had finished lecturing(and doting on Lily's perfect potion), I decided a steaming cup of hot chocolate was exactly what I needed. Unfortunately, there was no way to obtain said steaming cup of hot chocolate, unless...

--

"Oh, come on, Remus. They'll never find out!"

"It's a pretty big secret."

"But I just want some hot chocolate. I know you know how to get there. And you obviously know I know you know. And I know that you know that I know that you kn-"

"Okay, okay I get it, but I'm still not going to tell you. If James, Sirius, and Peter found out I told you..."

"But they _won't _find out."

"We make frequent trips. What if you're drinking you're hot chocolate in there and we walk in?"

"Disillusionment Charm."

I had him. He had no choice but to take me.

"Okay, how about this. I blindfold you, lead you to the kitchens, you drink your hot chocolate, I blindfold you again, and lead you back."

"Fine." In my head, I smirked. I had a good memory, I'd remember which way we went. Well, that was before he blindfolded me and spun me around a few times. Darn you, Remus, for being so evilly clever, or cleverly evil?

After I'd gotten my hot chocolate and accidently spilled some all over Remus(causing him to "Eek!"), I plopped back onto my favorite chair in the Common Room.

--

I'd fallen asleep on the couch I realized at about three in the morning, but I was half conscious at the time and drifting at the line between sleep and wakefulness. I was falling back asleep when I realized someone had draped a blanket over me...

--

**A/N: **three guesses who that was, but i don't think you really need all of them. :)


	12. Chapter 12

It was around ten o'clock when I woke up (it was a Saturday). And I found the blanket still on top of me. I pressed it to my face, it was really soft, as all blankets should be, but I liked the smell. It smelled like grass after the rain and it had a faint trace of...dog fur? I took it and walked back up to the girls' dorms.

"Is this anyone's blanket?" I asked and they all shook their heads, looking at me strangely(why does everyone do that?). Well, Inspector Holmes, I believe we have a mystery on our hands(I read Muggle classics). I tried every other year's girls' dorms. They all denied owning the blanket. So, I headed towards the boys' dormitories. Well, this was embarrassing. I know, I know, completely hypocritical right? But that was in the middle of the night and everyone was asleep. This is different, sort of.

I walked in there with the blanket about to say something when Sirius walked right up to me, grabbed the blanket and said, "Thanks, Minns." Oh well, mystery solved, Sirius gave me his blanket while I was asleep...Wait, _what_?!

"Wait, _wait_?"

"What?" He replied, as if he didn't know.

"What did you do to that blanket?" He did something to it. It was a revenge plot! Revenge, I tell you, revenge!

"Nothing. Why do you automatically assume things whenever I do something nice?" He was mad now, but I wasn't convinced. This was Sirius Black, he who had weaseled out of ten billion detentions.

"Because. Because...you're Sirius Black!"

"What's _that _supposed to mean?"

"That you're Siriusly disturbed." I was laughing on the inside, and I suspected Remus was too because I heard a "Ha-cough" somewhere from the dormitory.

Then, Sirius did something I hadn't anticipated, he took a step towards me. Sirius Black, Marauder, annoying git was now standing one and a half centimeters from me. And I was backed up against the wall...

I stared up at him, horrified. Everyone else in the room seemed paralyzed and they were staring at us. This close proximity was going to give me a heart attack. Sirius was smirking. Smirking! I glared back, but I was blushing, I just knew it! How embarrassing.

"Can I go now?" I asked.

"No." Still smirking.

"I hate you."

"Why, Stewart, that hurts," he said, jokingly, "For all you know, I could be suffering from depression."

"You mean head inflation, right?"

"There it is again. Why am I such a horrible person?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe you could ask one of your recent victims, Sirius. Or maybe one of the professors. Or even Filch. Or one of your ex-girlfriends? I'm sure they could tell you how horrible you are."

He stared at me, with hurt eyes that were probably just an act, and I walked out of there, slamming the door behind me.

--

**A/N:** Sorry, next one will be longer.


	13. Chapter 13

"Sirius Black, you confuse me." After ignoring me for about two days, he'd suddenly popped out of nowhere and started talking to me again.

"Why thank you, Minns. You confuse me as well."

I frowned. "If that was supposed to be funny-"

"It wasn't."

"...Oh."

Quick, say something before it becomes an awkward silence! "Um, I'll go to class now."

"I'll come with you." I gave him a look.

"What? We both have the same class. So I might as well walk you there."

I rolled my eyes at him and shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

--

Girls were staring, whispering, and pointing. The staring and whispering were bad enough, but pointing?! Seriously, whatever happened to _common courtesy_? I can _see _you, you know. STOP POINTING! I glared daggers at an unfortunate second year. She shrieked and ran.

And of course, Sirius decides this is the perfect time to grab my hand.

"Sirius, what are you doing?"

"Nothing, love."

"Let go."

"Aw, but I like it," he whined, "Please, Minnie?"

"Black, let my bloody hand go."

"Hmmm...last time I checked, your hands weren't bleeding. Should I go get Madame Pomfrey?" He was playing with me. I struggled against his iron grip for about two minutes, especially because the whispering, staring, and pointing had increased.

"Sirius," I said through clenched teeth.

"Yes?"

"If you don't let go _this instant_, than I'll-I'll, uh, I'll-"

"Dear, you need to learn how to threaten people properly."

"Well, I've never had to before you came. And don't call me that. Could you let go already?"

"Really? You must've been annoyed by someone or other. Only me? No, I must call you that or I will die a horrible, painful death. No, I won't let go."

"No, you were the first that's made me irritable enough to threaten. Die a horrible, painful death? All the more reason to stop calling me that. Let go."

We'd walked into Divination and Sirius finally let go. It seems however that today's activity was palm reading and since we were late, Sirius and I were partners.

'It says here that you will be killed very violently by...me! Muahahahaha!" That was Sirius. I told him to be serious. And he said, "I'm always Si-"

"COULD YOU STOP IT WITH THAT LAME JOKE!"

He was quiet for a while as if waiting until I'd cooled down.

"Okay, so seriously, it says you'll have a long life, you're really caring, and you'll have...eight children?"

"Oh, c'mon," I rolled my eyes at him.

"No, really, it says that. Take a look."

So, I looked at it. Goddamn it, Sirius was right.

"Hmmm...I wonder who with," he said, smirking suggestively.

"You're an insufferable prat, you know that?"

"Well, I've been told a couple of times before but it's nice to be reminded," he looked at me smiling this time. Not smirking or laughing at my expense. I liked him better like this. I smiled too.

"Ah-ha!" He suddenly burst out.

"Huh?" I asked, utterly confused.

"I got you to smile. You always seem to frown when I'm around."

"Well, you always seem to be annoying when I'm around."

"No, no, I'm like that naturally." I laughed a little. Hmmm, maybe Sirius could actually be decent.

--

Remember how I used 'Sirius Black' and the word 'decent' in the same sentence? Yeah, I take it back.

"What did he do now?" asked Lily. Usually I come to her with these things. I figured she was much more experienced in dealing with annoying guys. Not to give out any names or anything...(cough, James Potter, cough).

I sighed. "He snuck up on me, grabbed my robes and said he needed to smell them, then disappeared."

"Did you have your wand at the time?"

"No."

"That was your mistake. Always keep your wand with you, makes them more hesitant if they're trying to pull something."

She got up and started walking towards the door. It just registered in my head that I should ask her where she's going(I didn't get much sleep last night), when she turned around and asked me, "Are you coming or what?"

"Where are we going?"

"To get your robes back, of course."

I smiled. "Lily, you're awesome."

"Tell me something I _don't _know."

--

Lily banged on the door of the boys' dorms. When James opened it, I could almost see the gears in her brain whirring. She turned to me, smiled very deviously, then said, very sweetly, "Hey, _James_," stressing the fact that she'd called him by his first name.

The poor boy never had a chance. Lovestruck at once, he replied, "Hey, Lily."

"So, how've you been?"

"Oh, j-just great."

"That's _great_. By the way, could you do me the teensiest little favor?"

"Of course, Lily! I'll do anything." I tried not to laugh. He was so hung up on her, almost like a pet begging for some favorite toy.

"Well, it seems that your friend, Sirius, took Minerva's robes. Could you, by any chance, get it back for us?" James immediately scrambled into the room. I heard a muffled argument in there along the lines of:

"But my precious Lily needs it!"

"I need it too, mate!"

James won, because a minute later, he came back, huffing and puffing as he handed my robes to Lily. She smiled, leaned down, and kissed him on the cheek.

_THUMP. _Whoa. I expected the cheek kiss to have an effect on him, but I didn't know he'd pass out. Lily seemed surprised by this too. Then, pushing me away, said, "Come on, let's get out of here before someone sees." Then, we rushed out of there, leaving James Potter in the care of the other Gryffindor boys, much to their disbelief.

--

**A/N: **yay. longest chapter ever :) and, happy memorial day.


	14. Chapter 14

Slughorn was doing it again. Doing what, you might ask? Talking about, doting on, admiring Lily's "perfect piece of potionwork" (try saying that five times fast). I was falling asleep as was my potions partner, who happened to Sirius(well, ever since James' admirer took his seat). I was drifting off to sleep...Did someone just sniff my elbow?! I turned my head to the right.

"Sirius, are you...smelling my elbow?"

"No, just your robes. I missed the smell."

"You weren't kidding about that?"

"Nope."

"You're insane."

"And proud to be." I shook my head at him and decided to ignore the sniffing sounds Sirius was making. I folded my arms and rested my head there. But, apparently, I wasn't the only one using my arm as a pillow. I was beginning to fall asleep when Sirius' cheek pressed against mine, pushed my head over and buried his nose into the crook of my elbow.

He sighed. "That smells good."

"What does it smell like?" What an odd question. It sounded strange coming out of my mouth.

"Well, it smells a bit like cinnamon, old books, and...," sniff, sniff, "chocolate." I did like chocolate. Then he dove his nose back into the folds of my robes...and remained like that for almost the rest of the class. Then he sat next to me in all the classes we had together, and did the same thing.

--

Sirius is such a bloody moron.

"So, class," says Slughorn,"this potion behind me is called the-"

"Polyjuice Potion!" Sirius blurts out. Then, he turns to Potter, whispering, smirking and chuckling.

"Yes, thank you Mr. Black. Way to steal my thunder, but next time would you please raise your hand before giving the answer?"

It was a rhetorical question of course, but a few moments after he said this, Sirius replied, "Thunder doesn't need to wait for a hand!"

--

New French girl. New bloody French girl. That Sirius has been all over ever since she's gotten here. I _hate _her. But, I _can't _hate her. She's so damn nice! She's nice, smart, really fun to talk to...ARGH! I want to hate her. She's making it _impossible _for me to hate her! I hate her because I _don't _hate her. Does that make sense? Her name's Abigail, apparently, and she's in Ravenclaw. I think he likes her because she's blond. He stares off at the Ravenclaw table everyday with that-that _smirk _on his face.

This is so much worse than the "Anastasia incident" because she(Anastasia) actually asked _him _out_. _Now Sirius fancies someone and it's annoying because I don't hate the person. I mean, if someone's going to date my worst childhood enemy, they should at least be someone I dislike, right? God, what are you doing up there? Clearly not caring about my problems.

"Oh, ello Minerva," she said in that very cute French accent of hers.

"Hi, Abigail."

"Oh, please, call me Abby. I feel much more comfortable with eet."

"Okay then. So, Abby, do you like England?"

"Oh, vell, eet is...fine. I do miss friends though." At, least, that's what I _thought _I heard her say.

"Oh, well who wouldn't. I mean, my friends are very important to me."

"_Your _friends?" I need to get my ears checked.

"Uh, yeah, my friends."

"You vere born in friends?"

"What?"

"Friends."

I gave her a look. She gave me a look.

Then Sirius spotted Abby and walked up to her.

"Hey, Abby. Is Minerva scaring you? Believe me, she tends to do that to people..."

"Oh, uh, no, she is just confusing me..."

"She does that a lot, too." I gave him a look, well, more like a glare.

"Okay, then ladies. Or lady and Godzilla," the last part was murmured to himself.

"Hey! I heard that!"

"Heard what?"

"That 'Godzilla' comment." I made to take a step toward him, but Abby blocked me. Yet another reason I should hate her.

"Okay, okay, I realize we have had leetle sleep, but let's not be hostile now. Sirius, can you help me?"

His eyes brightened up at this. "Yes! Of course." He gave her a grin. She ignored it. Hmmm...another reason I _shouldn't _hate her...

"Well, Minerva here, she refers to my country as '_her _friends' but when I asked her if she vas born zere..."

"Oh, well, this is a simple problem, love. Minerva just doesn't understand your accent as well as _I _do. I hardly think anyone knows it better than me, except you of course," I rolled my eyes at him. This was how he was trying to impress her? "Minerva, look, when she says 'friends', she means 'France'."

Oh. Oops.

--

Weeks passed by. Months. Years. No, kidding, not years. But, before I knew it, O.W.L.s...

I was ready for this. I'd studied long and hard. I'd worked my hardest. I'm going to die.

--

I walked out of the room a different person. Being in an enclosed area, for so long, with so many other people, not talking, working, writing...Oh god, _writing_. So many words. I was too tired to walk myself back to the Common Room, so(yes, I am slightly insane), I slumped down against a wall to sit for awhile. I got lost in my thoughts after about 15 minutes and ended up sitting up against that wall for longer than I expected to. _PLOP! _I swear, I think Sirius purposefully comesin at the wrong times just to aggravate me.

"Hey, Minns. What'cha sittin' here for?"

"Nothing. I was just about to leave."

"Nothing? It seemed like you were here pretty long."

"Well, I got caught up thinking about some things."

He nodded, then sighed. "Looks, Minns. We haven't been the best of friends, and I know you hate my guts, but I really want to ask you this question..."

--

**A/N: **(gasp) What does Sirius want to ask Minerva? and...thank you abby, for letting me use your name and your personality. thank you people who reviewed. love you all. :)


	15. Chapter 15

"Looks, Minns. We haven't been the best of friends, and I know you hate my guts, but I really want to ask you this question..." I waited for him to finish the sentence. When he didn't, I asked, "What?"

"Huh?"

"You were going to ask me something."

"Oh, right. I was just thinking about Abi- I mean- cheese."

I looked at him with this very sarcastic look. "Cheese."

"Uh, yeah. Cheese is _so _good."

I nodded, smirking.

"Well, I was going to ask you...I was going to ask you to be..." he sighed, as if he didn't believe he was actually doing this. "I was going to ask you to be my fake date for the upcoming Hogsmeade trip."

I blinked. Blinked again. Then, I laughed. I laughed the hardest I've ever laughed before, to the point where I had tears in my eyes and my sides were hurting me. "Oh my god, that's funny. Thanks for the lift, Sirius. I needed it. Oh my _god_. Ha." I looked at him. He stared back, and we were like that for several minutes, just staring into each other's eyes. When inspected very carefully, Sirius' eyes were actually very beautiful. They were grey mostly, but a blueish grey, with little flecks of green and hazel. I was surprised to find that the usual humor that was there was gone. This was, what, the third time this _year _I've seen him actually _serious_? The laughter that had been erupting inside of me quietly slunk back into whatever corner it usually hid in.

"Oh," I whispered,"you were serious."

He smiled sadly,"Love, I'm always Sirius."

"But, why _me_, specifically?"

"Because every girl in this whole school is obsessed with one of the other Marauders or me except you and Lily. And if I took Lily, James would kill me...So you were my only choice."

I gave one of my What-the-_hell_ looks(I had a lot. The result of being friends with psychos).

He sighed. "Never mind. It's hopeless anyway."

"Trying to make Abigail jealous?"

"Yeah." Here, he sighed again,"But I don't think it'll work. She's one of the most stubborn I've ever met." In a strange way, I was actually feeling sorry for him.

--

Sirius Black had fallen into a depression lately. He must really like this girl. I looked over at him, who was sitting two tables behind Abby and I in the library, staring forlornly at us. Probably cursing me for taking up the seat next to her.

As much as I hated him, I _did _have a conscience, you know. So I turned to Abby and said,"You know Sirius likes you, right?" And it was weird because at the exact same time, she'd said the same thing to me(except, of course, the French accent). It almost seemed like we rehearsed this. I looked at her. She looked at me, then started laughing hysterically. Then, she fell off her chair. All the while, I just stared at her, open-mouthed. When she got back up again, she gently lifted my chin so that my mouth closed again.

"What the _hell _was _that_?!"

"You British can be so blind to love."

"Love?! _Sirius_?"

"Yes, I am serious." Then, she laughed.

"I hate you," I grumbled.

"Ees telling ze truth such a crime een Eengland?"

"No, it isn't, but that's not even the truth!"

"Oh, ees eet not?"

I pursed my lips and glared at her and she started giggling. I crossed my arms at "hurumph"ed at her. This caused more giggling at then, hysterical laughing. I gave up eventually and started to thump my head against the desk. Thump. Thump. Thump...

--

Remember the thing I said about being friends with psychos? Well, now I have proof. I was talking to Abby. You know, about our Charms homework and stuff like that, when Mary and Marlene came right up to us, heaved me up by my arms, and dragged me up to the dorms.

"Okay, Min, what's this we're hearing about you and Sirius?"

"_WHAT?!_"

"You and Sirius," Marlene said again, but this time, she dragged out the syllables like I was foreign or something.

"Yeah, whatever happened to _Amos_." Mary was looking pretty smug.

"Nothing. Wait, what?" My cheeks colored, I could feel it.

"We've heard rumors, you know, Min," That was Marlene. Sometimes, Mary and Marlene were so like each other, we asked them if they were related, and they weren't. They were just "soul sisters" says Mary.

"Rumors about what?"

They laughed. Laughed! How rude.

"How you two were this close," she said, showing me the distance with her thumb and forefinger, "to each other. How he stalked you all, uh...," she looked to Mary.

Mary finished for her,"Last, last week. How you two were holding hands..."

I looked at them. "Where have you two been for the past, oh i don't know, _five _years? I _hate _Sirius Black."

"Well, he sure as heck doesn't hate _you_."

"Shut up, Marlene."

--

**A/N: **sorry it took so long for this one. thank you if you reviewed. thanks if you read it. :)


	16. Chapter 16

Everything was about to explode. Static before a storm. The timer of a bomb at the number 10 and decreasing. Tense. Yes, that was the word for it, tense. Mcgonagall said three simple, angry words, and all hell broke loose.

--

What were those three angry words? Well, I'll give you a hint. It wasn't, "I'll kill you," or anything like that. In fact, it was something a lot of teachers said, all the time even. But this time, it was very important. Why? Because the three words she said were, "Alright, you're dismissed!." And it was the end of the school year. But the hell that broke loose wasn't the normal "everyone trying to push past each other to get to the door" kind. This was the Sirius kind of hell.

--

Mcgonagall was growing frustrated at our shrinking attention span. All eyes were on the clock. Tick, tock, tick. Even Lily's. All pulled toward the machine as if willing it to move faster.

"This wand movement is crucial because," she sighed looking at the class. No one was paying attention. "Alright! You're dismissed."

Everyone made a rush to the door and I frantically tried to not get crushed. But just as the first person was about to reach the doorknob, Sirius shouted halfway across the room, "WAIT! Don't leave yet."

As if on cue, he and James simultaneously got up onto the desks and proceeded to do the can-can except that they were making monkey sounds and scratching their armpits. Wow. Mcgonagall just sat there, too shocked to enforce the rules, although I doubted the Founders thought they would have to make rules for this sort of situation. We all stared up, open-mouthed. I instantly regretted not packing a camera to school in the beginning of the year. As one, Sirius and James leaped off the table and ran for the door, all of us parting in their way for some strange reason.

--

I was walking towards the train. I was just walking for god's sake! Did I do something? Was it karma? (Well, it probably was...) Sirius bounced up next to me. I mean, literally, bounced.

"Hi, Minns. Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, HI!" I stared at him and blinked. Then I remembered this morning...

_"Hey Remus," I said as I noticed what he was carrying,"I thought you didn't drink coffee."_

_"Oh, it's not for me."_

_"Whose is it, then?"_

_"Well, Sirius was too lazy to get it himself..."_

_I stared at him, horrified. Sirius Black and coffee? I tried to imagine it and... "Get him decaf, PLEASE!"_

Guess Remus didn't listen to me. Great. Now I have a highly caffeinated Sirius Black to deal with.

"Um, Sirius?"

"Yeah? What? What? What?"

"Okay, let's calm down now."

"I HAD COFFEE!"

I muttered under my breath. "No, really?" very sarcastically. I like sarcasm. I said to him, "How strong was this coffee you had?"

"I don't know...BUT I WANT MORE!!"

"Uh huh. Right. Well, I'm going to find a compartment before everyone gets the good ones."

"I'LL COME WITH YOU!"

No way. No way in hell. "Why don't you sit with James and them?" Please.

He looked at me with big, sad eyes and puckered lips. He looked like a puppy. He was giving me the Sad Puppy Look. "But I want to sit with Minnie."

I grumbled. "Go sit with some other lovesick girl," then I instantly realized my mistake.

"WAIT! _OTHER _LOVESICK GIRL?!" Oh no, Sirius was going to- ,"EVERYONE! MINNIE LOVES ME! I LOVE YOU TOO, MINNIE!"

I slapped him on the back of his head. "Shut up." Then, he tackled me with a hug. I couldn't breathe, that's how tight he wrapped his arms around me. My stomach was squirming. "I LOVE YOU TOO, MINNIE!" Then, he kissed my cheek and bounded into the train, running and flapping his arms wildly.

I touched the spot where his lips touched my face. I was turning red. I was shocked, thoroughly and completely shocked. It seemed to hit me just then. Sirius Black kissed me on the cheek. _Sirius_ Black kissed me on the cheek. My eyes widened and I quickly took my shirt and used it to rub the spot. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew. Ew.

--

I ended up finding an empty compartment and sitting alone, peacefully reading. That is, for about two minutes. Somehow, he managed to find me. He opened the compartment door without asking or _knocking _(I swear, common courtesy is just out the window now) and plopped down next to me. I prayed he was over his coffee high. He wasn't.

"HI, MINNS! WHAT'CHA READIN'?!"

"Nothing," I said as I closed the book. Experience had taught me that reading was utterly impossible with him around. I shoved it back into my overcrowded bag. "Why aren't you sitting with the other Marauders?"

"James started talking about Lily. IT GOT TEDIOUS!"

"Oh, I see." This was understandable. "But why did you walk into this compartment in particular?"

"Cause it was either, lovesick girls, Lily and Snape, Abby, or you."

"What about Abby?"

"She was reading, I didn't want to bother her."

"Oh, yeah, cause _that_ make _so_ much sense." Sarcasm.

"Oh well. YOU KNOW YOU LOVE IT WHEN I'M HERE!"

Endure a train ride with Sirius Black and no one else in my compartment. I could deal with that, right? RIGHT?

--

After chattering for half an hour straight, the coffee wore off. FINALLY! He fell asleep for another half hour snoring loudly on my shoulder. Even in sleep, he keeps me from reading my book. He was still sleeping when I stood up to go change out of my robes. He jerked awake the moment his cheek lost contact with my shoulder. He yawned, stretched, rubbed his eye, and sat up. "Where're you going?"

"I'm going to change out of my robes."

"Oh, can I come with you?" Leave it to Sirius to turn a statement like that into something inappropriate. I grimaced, took out my book and started whacking him with it. "Okay! Okay! Ah! OW." I smirked and left. Does it make you a sadist if you enjoy the pain of just one specific person?

--

**A/N: **Hmmm...I think this is the longest one yet. And the thing with the "Get her decaf, PLEASE!"...our Spanish teacher said that about Miranda. Thank you Senor Diaz...


	17. Chapter 17

The first thing Sirius did when we got off the train, and onto the platform, was hug me...for five minutes. I was screaming and trying to get out my wand, but I guess, being on the Quidditch team and all, he has a strong grip. After the first two minutes, I gave up.

"Erm, Sirius?"

"Mmm?"

"Could you, uh, possibly, let go now?"

"No, my mother isn't here yet."

"What does that ha-"

"_**SIRIUS BLACK!**_" Screamed a voice from out of nowhere. It made me cringe, but it seemed to have the opposite effect on Sirius. Instead of shrinking back, he smirked, released me and walked toward the source of the sound. It was his mother.

That woman looked like she'd never smiled in her entire life. Sirius was grinning from ear to ear. The only possible hint that they were related was the resemblance Sirius' nose had to her's. Don't ask me how I noticed that. I do _not _watch Sirius in History of Magic while he sleeps.

Anyway...this woman was really scary. She looked at me like I was a piece of garbage, which I probably was to her. Sirius made his way calmly, almost happily to her. This is when I'm really loving the whole "personal space" thing. I kept four feet away from the woman at all times.

"Hello, mother."

"_Sirius BLACK! _Can you explain to me why you were embracing this-this piece of garbage." She looked me over, up and down, and I was beginning to get self-conscious when Sirius stepped in front of me, blocking her view.

"Well, mother, this is my very, very good friend, Minerva. As you already know, she's a half-blood." She gave me this murderous look that made me cringe, for the second time today. I looked at him with a surprised expression. Why would he say that? His mother was still staring at me. I was officially creeped out.

"Is she really?"

"Yes," he said. I looked at him again. After hearing the answer, Mrs. Black turned to me, expectantly, as if I was about to say something. I blinked.

"Say yes," Sirius whispered to me.

"What? Are you _suicidal_?"

"No, just thought it'd be fun to bug the old hag." She was watching our whispered conversation. "Mother, would you mind excusing us for a second?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, I would mind very much."

"Oh, but that's never stopped me before."

"When we get home-" She was threatening. Wasn't that illegal or something?

"But I'm not going home." There was a shocked silence for a while. I was shocked too, but I guess it made sense. I wouldn't be able to survive with this hag for fifteen years either. I would've run away too.

She gave us a look of pure hatred. "Go then. Go. Don't expect sympathy when you come crying back."

"Don't you listen? I'm _not_ coming back." He was almost growling. I felt as if I shouldn't be in this scene. I took a step backward, then another step, but Sirius grabbed onto my arm, not letting me go.

"You'll be back within the week."

Sirius scowled at her. For a second there, I saw the real resemblance, the utter sameness in their scowls and smirks. The only difference was in their eyes, and that made all the difference.

"Let's go Minerva."

Sirius dragged me with him out of the station.

"Where're your parents, Minns?"

"I-I usually go home by myself, so I'll just wait for the bus." I was still thinking about the conversation we'd just had with his mother.

A small little smile appeared on Sirius' face. "No friend of mine is going to ride public transport if I can help it." He took out a tiny motorcycle from his pocket and enlarged it. He sat down. I noticed that there were no helmets.

He patted the seat in back of him. "C'mon."

"Are-are you sure this is safe?"

"I've done this a million times, trust me."

Hesitantly, I made my way over to the seat.

"Hold on to me, Minnie."

I looked at him. "I don't think I'll need to." He laughed a bit and then started the bike. I knew he'd go fast, and I wasn't afraid of that, but I was _not _expecting what happened next. The motorcycle started to _fly_. I reacted instinctively, I guess. I grabbed onto the first thing I saw, which just happened to be Sirius' waist. My stomach was doing flips. Maybe it was motion sickness. Maybe it wasn't. He laughed again. I was a bit pissed off, but I wasn't about to let go of the only thing keeping me from the cold, hard ground. He felt surprisingly warm...

--

**A/N: **One of my more serious chapters...what'd you think?


	18. Chapter 18

He sighed and said, "So, where's your house?"

I thought about it for a second, "Um...you know what, just drop me off on that street corner."

"Oh, it's okay, I can drop you off in front of your house if you want."

"Uh, no thanks."

"Why?" He seemed genuinely puzzled.

"'Cause I don't want you to know where I live."

He gave me a look. "It's not like I'm going to stalk you or anything."

I gave him a look. "Okay! Okay! So I _was_ going to stalk you..." I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever," I said, "Just drop me off here."

"Durn," he said.

"Huh?"

"Oh, I mean, darn."

"You can't forget A. It's a very important vowel."

"What's wrong with U?" I blinked. Then, Sirius burst into hysterical laughter.

"Seriously," he said, "what's wrong with you?"

"_Sirius_-ly," I retorted, "what's wrong with _you_?" This set him off again and I laughed a little too.

"Oh, puns. How I love them," he murmured.

"Especially because you keep repeating the same lame one." Honestly, five years with the guy and he still couldn't come up with a better joke than that.

He smiled and said, "You can get off now." I was surprised. I hadn't even realized we'd been descending. I got off the bike and looked around; we were in front of my house. My eyes widened and I looked at Sirius.

"H-how did you-"

"Love, I know things about you that you don't even know." He smirked, then drove away. Thoroughly creeped out, I walked the house.

My mom was in the kitchen, waiting for me. "How was the year, Minerva?"

"Okay, I guess."

"Alright, there's a letter addressed to you on the counter. Someone sent it this morning." And this is why I love my mom. No tedious details. No nagging or worrying. She trusts me.

--

_Minnie, _

_Hi. Blah. I'm bored. Or at least I know I will be by the time you read this. Write back. _

_ Sirius_

_P.S. I've moved in with Andromeda. She's cool. And, I think that at the time you're reading this, I will be on my way to her house. Owl me back in about twenty minutes. _

--

_Sirius,_

_Why?_

_ Minerva_

_--_

_Minnie-kins,_

_Why what?_

_ Sirius_

_--_

_Git,_

_Why everything._

_ Minerva_

_P.S. MINNIE-KINS??What the hell? Can't you come up with a better one?_

_--_

_Amos-obsessed fangirl,_

_I'm bored because I have nothing to do. Write back because I'm bored. I moved in with 'Dromeda 'cause she's cool. And she's cool 'cause she's not like the rest of my family._

_ Sirius_

_--_

_Overly conceited jerk who will get his arse kicked,_

_I am __**NOT**__obsessed with Amos._

_ Minerva_

_P.S. HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT?!_

_--_

_Minnsies,_

_So you're not denying the fact that you're his fangirl. I know a lot of things. _

_ Sirius_

_--_

_Stupid idiot,_

_Sod off. Just go and explode or something._

_ Minerva _

I could almost see him smirking as I wrote the last comment.

_--_

Summer consisted of nothing rather interesting, just annoying neighbors throwing water balloons (with bad aim too) and books sitting on a rock next to a lake; nothing of great importance. Okay, okay, so it wasn't as exciting as when Sirius was there during the school year, but...peace and quiet for once, right?

--

You must be joking. They're sixteen years old for crying out loud! I rolled my eyes at the pair and walked quickly past, trying not to get maimed as I did. It was just as I walked past that they broke apart, panting and grinning.

"Hey, Minns," said Sirius.

I gave him a look, "Seriously, violence on the platform?"

"We were just joking around."

"Headlocking one of your best mates is..."

"Joking around," he answered, and grinned again.

"Yeah, Minns," I looked to Remus as he spoke up,"we were just playing around. We wouldn't hurt each other." At this, Sirius ruffled Remus' hair and said,"Oh, Moony, you matted wolf, you." Remus smiled uncomfortably and picked a piece of dust out of his hair.

Then, he retorted to Sirius, "You mangled mutt."

"You-you-you...I can't think of anything. Help me out, Minnie?"

"No thanks," I smirked and got on the train.

--

I had a plan. A plan that included Sirius explaining why he's suddenly become a stalker and knows where I _live_.

--

I walked into their compartment, there were five people in there, four Marauders and one extremely grumpy Lily. As soon as I opened the door, they all stared at me, particularly Lily, with a pleadingly hopeful look. Sorry Lily.

I gave them all sweet smiles and said, "Excuse me, can I borrow Sirius for a second?"

Lily stood up slightly and said, "I'll come with you too."

James dragged her back onto the seat, "It's okay, Lily, love, Minerva only wants Sirius. Right, Minerva?" He looked at me with a desperate face. James' face won. But it would've anyway. This was a private matter.

"James is right," I squeaked. Please don't kill me, please don't kill me, please don't kill me...

Lily's shoulders slumped. She blew a nonexistent hair out of the way of her face. Secret Gryffindor Girl Code (SGGC) for 'go ahead' (Don't ask me why we have a code. It was a Saturday night, we were all bored...Plus, it's useful). I nodded at her. Then dragged Sirius out and into my compartment.

"Okay, first of all, how do you know where I live?"

He smirked, "I've done some research."

"WHY?!"

"Oh, c'mon. I had to find out your address if I was going to send you letters, right?"

I guessed this made sense..."But _how'd _you find out?"

"Asked Abby."

My mouth fell open...,"Traitor," I muttered. I'd told her where I lived because we were becoming really good friends and I was hoping she'd come visit sometime.

"Okay, second of all," I looked around, making sure that no one was outside listening in on us, "how'd you know I like Amos?"

He seemed genuinely shocked when I said this and I was about to ask him why when he said, "I was just joking. I-I didn't know you would actually..."

Thump, thump, thump...

"Why are you hitting your head on the wall?"

Thump, thump, thump...

"I can't believe I told a _Marauder_ who I liked. Great, now I'm dead. What's first? Blackmail. Humiliation."

Sirius' eyes seemed to light up,"Well, Minnie, I didn't know you had such a devious mind. I actually wasn't thinking about those things..."

I'm going to strangle myself...

--

**A/N: **Over a hundred reviews? LUV YOU GUYS!! SO MUCH! :)


	19. Chapter 19

"So, Minns..."

Thump, thump, thump...

"Amos? Really?"

Thump, thump, thump...

"Doesn't seem all that much your type." I glared at him. "Don't kill me, it was just a comment. Geez..."

"Whatever," I said, looking away.

"He's a prat, don't you think?"

"No, I don't think."

He smirked, "You don't think? And here I was, thinking you were kind of smart. Guess I was wrong."

"Shut up, you bloody git." I was in a very sour mood right now.

"Bloody git?" He clawed at his chest,"That hurt Minnsies. I'm dying from the deep depression you've put me in."

I rolled my eyes at him and shoved him off the seat, "Sod off."

He stood back up again and grinned lopsidedly (if that's a word). Then, he leaned back and propped his disgusting feet on top of my suitcase. "You're too wound up for your own good, Minnie. You have to learn to relax. Not care so much."

"Yeah, be a slacker like you and fail every class-"

"Except Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration," as he finished the sentence, he smirked, as if he was in on a secret I didn't know about. "Ah, Transfiguration. Minnie hates me," here, I flinched, even though I knew he wasn't refering to me, "but I excel in class anyway. All four of the Marauders are top of the class in Tranfiguration, you know."

"Yes, I know," I said through clenched teeth. He started playing with my hair, flipping my slightly curly hair around and around his fingers while I fumed.

He started combing through my hair. I grabbed his wrist, "Stop that." He grinned but didn't stop.

"Nice hair. A bit messier than your average girl, but still very smooth."

"Go back to your own compartment."

"I thought you wanted me here."

"Not anymore. Go away. Begone evil spirit. Flee," I said in a tired voice.

"You haven't met evil until you've met Bellatrix. I swear, it's like she has some sort of crush on Voldemort." I cringed.

"Seriously?" He nodded. "That's disturbing." He nodded again. "But still, go away."

"Saving a seat for A-"

"Just go."

He started to stand up, but then sat back down again, on top on me. He's heavy. "Sirius, get off me."

He smiled and tried to lie down. "Ouch! Geroff!" I tried to shove him off, but he was too heavy. "You're so fat."

"I'm not fat," he said nonchalantly, still lying on top of me,"you're just weak."

"I'm not weak," I said, and pushed him with all of my energy. He didn't even budge. Okay, so I was weak. But I could run pretty fast. That made up for something, right?

"Get off," I said, still pushing.

"No, I kind of like it here. Maybe I'll take a nice little nap."

"Go to sleep and wake up with your face rearranged," I grumbled menacingly.

"Okay, point taken...but I'm still staying here." I scowled at him. He grinned back. I smiled deviously, an idea suddenly coming to me. Sirius blanched, "Minns...why are you smiling like that?" This only caused me to grin wider. With one swipe, I grabbed at my bag and took out a roll of duct tape, an object alien to poor pureblood Sirius Black.

"What's that?!" The panic was evident. I ripped off a piece of duct tape.

--

Fifteen minutes later, I marveled at my masterpiece. Beautiful job, Minerva. Absolutely beautiful. His hands and feet were tied with the tape and his mouth taped shut. I took out a book and used his lap as a pillow, reading the rest of the train ride. But I wasn't a cruel jailkeeper, I even bought him some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. Well, I was _going _to anyway. But then I realised that I'd have to untape his mouth and I was _not _going to risk him start talking again. I stowed them in his bag. Sirius' lap was actually quite comfortable, not hard and muscly like I thought it would be. It was fun to glance up from the book and see his expression from time to time.

--

I saw Sirius walking around the corridors about a week into our sixth year.

"It was like some evil sticky and silver _monster_. I'd never seen anything like it before." He spotted me. I showed him my roll of duct tape. He shrieked and hid behind Remus.

"Sirius," explained Remus,"that's just duct tape."

"No, Moony. It's an evil monster from the depths of hell!" We both rolled our eyes at him but I was the only one who smirked.

"Minerva," said James,"a part of me finds this extremely hilarious..." I grinned, "and the other part finds it kind of annoying. Can't go near him with something that looks even remotely like that," he point at the duct tape, "thing you're holding. But it's okay. He'll get over it."

"Okay," I answered. "I'm going to the library, I guess. Finish up my potions essay."

All of a sudden, James went into some sort of trance. "Lily's best subject is potions," he mused, utterly lost to the outside world.

"Yeah," Sirius replied,"and so is Snivellus'. That snapped him out of it.

"Way to be a kill-joy, Sirius."

"My pleasure."

James frowned. "You're weird Sirius."

"We're all weird on the inside," he said.

"But you're weird on the outside too," I replied, and walked away.

--

**A/N: **Gotta love the duct tape...Anyway...happy summer! :)


	20. Chapter 20

Sirius' fear of my awesome duct tape subsided after a while and then he started coming near me again, this was somewhere in October.

--

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MINNIE, I LOVE YOU!" I winced, partly because I knew the voice, partly because of what the voice said. It was indeed my birthday. After five successful years of keeping the date unknown from my friends, Sirius had to go and spoil it all. He hugged me from behind.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MINNS, I LOVE YOU!"

"You said that already, now let go." He touched his cheek to mine and smiled, almost innocently.

"Not on your special day." I grimaced. He smiled. I scowled. He grinned. He pried my fingers off of my bag and slung it across his shoulder. "Hey, this is really light. I'll carry it for you," but he didn't let go of me. I turned around awkwardly, his arms still encasing me, "Uh, it's okay, you don't have to." I made a grab for it, but he was taller than me and raised it above my head with one arm and the other still trapping me. He smirked, and said, "Jump for it."

I pursed my lips, "Unlike some people," I stared pointedly at him, "I happen to have some dignity, you know." I crossed my arms, and with as much dignity as I could muster, turned around in his still encasing arms and 'hurumph'ed.

I heard a plopping sound and sneaked a peek back at him. My bag was on his shoulder again. "Alright then," he replied, and somehow steered me in the direction of the Common Room (we had a free period) one arm around me, gripping very tightly I might add.

While we were walking, I asked him, "Who told you it was my birthday?"

"I know stuff, remember?"

"Stalker," I muttered.

"No, no, I will not have anyone calling me a stalker. I merely know stuff about people," he said with a smile.

"Wait, 'people', plural?"

"Um, well..."

I shook my head at him,"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Mr. Black."

"Well, it's not _my _fault. You pick up a few things while you're sneaking off at night to Hogsmeade. For example, I know for a fact, that you, my dear, talk in your sleep."

Oh my god. I'd known already that I talked in my sleep, but I really wondered what I said. Wait..."YOU'VE BEEN IN THE DORM WHILE I WAS SLEEPING?!"

"Now, now, Minnie, let's not get angry on your very special 16th birthday."

"YOU-YOU-YOU...STALKER!!"

"Now, Minns, we agreed-"

I scoffed, "What 'we'?"

"Minns," he said in a gentler tone,"I was merely checking up on...Anastasia, while we were dating." He said that with such a straight face that I found myself suspicious, but I didn't want another arguement, so I ignored it.

We walked in silence for a while before I realised he arm was still around me. That may be the reason angry girls were staring at me, "Sirius, maybe you should let go before I get murdered by crazed fangirls."

"You know, that's usually what Prongs gets me for my birthday, girls chasing after me." I made a face that clearly expressed my disgust at the idea. He sighed and pressed me closer to him. "Happy birthday."

I glowered, "Third time, now would you stop saying that before someone hears."

He looked thoughtful for a second, then shouted, "HEY EVERYONE! THIS IS MINNIE AND IT'S HER BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, I LOVE YOU!"

Then he kissed me, so close to (but not quite there) my mouth it was unbelievable, and ran off. I stood there for a second, brain not functioning. I blinked twice. "YOU BETTER RUN, SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" I took off as fast as I possibly could, one hand gripping my wand.

--

**A/N: **Heh...lots of capitalization...


	21. Chapter 21

I opened the door. Their dormitory was messy as ever. Clothes were strewn everywhere. I could see only three people in the room, but there was a fourth, I was sure of it. I turned to Remus, "Where is he?"

He wrinkled his nose and looked up from the book he was reading, "Well, that depends. Who is it that you're looking for?"

James and Peter were just playing Exploding Snap. I glared at all of them, "You know bloody well who. He's in this room isn't he?"

James spoke up this time,"We don't know who you're asking for, Minerva."

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK, DAMMIT!"

James thought for a while, "Sirius? Well, I think he's out on the Quidditch Pitch. Why are you looking for him?"

Quidditch Pitch? Quidditch Pitch, my great aunt Gertrude. I don't believe it. I grumbled a bit, then noticed a particular lump of a pile of clothing a bit too large to be just clothing. I quietly made my way over there. Peter was fidgeting a bit. James' eyes were just a tiny bit wider than usual, but Remus' face betrayed nothing. I grabbed a shirt and flung it away to reveal...a head of black hair. He didn't stand up, just squatted there, probably hoping I wouldn't notice him.

"Get up, Black."

He still didn't get up. I rolled my eyes and grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked.

"Ah-ah-ow. Careful, ow! With the. Ouch! Hair. Ah!"

I started pulling him toward the door. James stood up, "Minerva, maybe you should-" I glared at him and he flinched back a little.

"Uh, right, you go on ahead then," he said.

Sirius made a face. "Thanks, Prongs. This is exactly why you're my _best mate_," he said sarcastically.

I smiled and pulled Sirius out of his Gryffindor tower into an empty classroom. I stood there, arms crossed, waiting.

Sirius shuffled uncomfortably. After a while, he looked up and asked, "What?"

"WHAT?! YOU PRACTICALLY HARASSED ME ALL DAY AND THEN PROCLAIM TO THE WHOLE WORLD-"

His hand clamped over my mouth. "MMM! HM MHRM!"

"Look, Minerva-"

"MM! YM MURT YM! MMT M!"

"I'm sorry I-"

"YRM MT MREE EE SR EE!"

"I'm sorry I told the world today was your birthday and practically harassed you all day. Am I free to go?" I nodded slowly. He unclamped his hand from my mouth as he turned his back to me. I grinned deviously...and turned his skin orange with turquoise polka dots. His hair turned pink with green stripes. Lovely. As soon as Sirius shut the door behind him, I heard a loud yell and he ran back inside, eyes wide open. I smiled innocently, waved, and walked out very pleased with myself.

--

I walked into my dormitory. Then, I heard someone squeal and...oh, Abby. She tackled me into a hug. " 'appy, 'appy birthday!"

"Please do _not _tell anyone."

"Why vould I?" And this is why I love her..."Everyone already knows." WHAT?!

"WHAT?!"

"Well, Seerius-" Argh! Oh well, Minerva. His skin's already orange, I think you got enough payback. "Anyway," she continued, "Why deedn't you tell us?!" She squealed happily again, then rummaged around in her trunk and came out with a little box with bright wrapping paper and a b- oh no. She didn't. She did.

"You really, _really _didn't have to."

"But I deed, open eet." I rolled my eyes at her and took the little box in my hands. Thankfully, it was so little. I'd be embarassed to death if it were any bigger. I opened the little lid. A locket. How...thoughtful? I opened it and saw the picture inside. It was a certain Sirius Black. Abby was smiling insanely. I dropped the locket back into the box. "Thanks, Abby," I said (sarcastically, of course. If you thought I was actually serious, then you, my friend, are either on or need medication).

--

I was sleeping. Key word: _was_. Not anymore. Who's poking me?! They started pinching me. I raised my hand and pinched whoever it was back. They gave a yelp of pain. Hey...I knew that yelp, because it was mostly me that caused it. Sirius. _Again?_

"What do you want?" I asked groggily.

"Change me back."

"In the morning," I replied, turning over on the bed so that my back faced him.

"No, now." He didn't seem the least bit sleepy or tired at all. Damn him.

"Morning."

"...Alright, I'll wait here then." I didn't reply and fell back to sleep.


	22. Chapter 22

The next morning (well, actually, it was around 5:30), when I woke up, there was Sirius Black, looking completely back to normal. Oh no.

"Hey," he was holding something behind his back, "Good morning."

"How'd you figure out what spell I used?"

He waved his hand dismissively, as if it was the easiest thing in the world, "Flipped through some books of yours." Oh, okay, that's fi-WHAT?!

"What else did you 'flip' through?!" Air quotes are the meaning of life.

"Oh, not much else, but I _did _happen to find something rather...interesting." It was my diary wasn't it? Oh, this cannot be good. Wait, I stopped writing in that stupid thing in fourth year. Okay, so it wasn't the diary. What could it be?

"For example," he continued,"this little sucker here." He pulled out a little box with bright wrapping paper and a b- oh no. He didn't. He did.

I remained silent. "I was surprised enough when I found that it was jewelry. You were never one to wear any of that." He held out the locket. Abby is dead. Worse. I will force Abby to give up croissants. "But imagine my utter shock, when I saw that the picture inside the locket was yours truly." He was smirking. He was near the brink of laughter. I'm going to kill him. Or set Snape on him. In his sick, twisted point of view, it'd be the same thing.

"Care to explain, dear Minerva?"

I brooded for several minutes, anger building up. Then, I screamed out, "ABBY! NO MORE CROISSANTS!"

Abby immediately popped up, as if she wasn't asleep all this time. "But...I like croissants."

Sirius gave me a look of utter confusion. Poor boy, he will never understand. "Hey, Abby!"

"I don't want to geeve up croissants! I love zem!"

What was he doing now? "It's not about croissants. It's about this locket," he said.

"Oh, vell, deedn't Meenie proclaim 'er everlasting love to you yet?"

WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?!

"No, but I got the feeling she's just about to." They're in this together. They're conspiring against me! That's what it is.

"Sirius?" I growled.

"Yes, _love_?" One day, one day, Sirius will wake up, tied to a tree in a swamp full of hungry alligators. I stood up and started walking towards the door.

"Hey, Minns, where're you going?" He grabbed onto my wrist.

"Away from Croissant Maniac here and you."

" 'ey! I'm not a Croissant Maniac!" I gave Abby a look, "Okay, I am, but I do not like being called zat."

"I'm sorry Minns. I was just kidding. But I _would _like to know what the locket was about."

"I...stole it from...a fourth year...and was...about to...burn...it. Yeah."

Abby was having trouble containing her laughter. Sirius was giving me this weird look. They're both so dead.

--

**A/N: **Eh...sorry for the short chapter.


	23. Chapter 23

"Stole it from a fourth year?"

"Y-yes," so my lying isn't too good. Oh, who am I kidding, I stink.

"Was about to burn it?" Don't give me that look.

"Y-yes."

"_Where _were you going to burn it?"

"The...fireplace."

"So, you were just going to toss it in?"

"Yes."

"_Why_?"

" 'Cause...uh...Mcgonagall...told me to." Abby burst out laughing.

"Vat deed she say to you? 'Take thees locket and toss eet een ze fire'?"

"ABBY, YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" She continued laughing and fell out of her bed, clutching her sides, her blond hair completely messed up. I fell back down onto my own bed and covered my face with the pillow.

"Minerva?" I needed to get out of here.

"You know what, I'm going to go shower now...because if I didn't...I'd be unhygenic...and my doctor would pelt me with apples. Not to mention the wrath and fury of my dear older sister, I mean, I love her and everything but she absolutely terrifies me. So yeah...good-bye," I made a grab for my robes and ran off to the bathroom.

--

I sat by the Lake, reading Muggle fiction, surprisingly good Muggle fiction. And funny, too. Although, I got the feeling it wasn't supposed to be funny. Well, it was a so-called 'fantasy' book. Its extremely entertaining what Muggles think of magic. I must've fallen asleep at some point because I felt something furry nudging me awake. I opened my eyes to see...a big, black dog. I scratched its head, "Hey, how'd you get here?" I'd never seen a dog around Hogwarts before. I guess he lived in the Forbidden Forest. He plopped down right on my lap and snuggled in, as if I'd known him all my life. I smiled, and hugged him, then continued reading.

--

I shifted my weight a little, to gently get out from under the sleeping dog. I planted a small kiss on its forehead and walked away.

--

For the next two weeks, life blended into a repeating pattern. Wake up, get dressed, eat, mull through classes, eat, mull through more classes, eat, and go to sleep, with the occasional bathroom trip. Abby and I were great friends, with just one conflicting point of view, the subject of Mr. Sirius Black. But mostly, it was great. Then, came Halloween. Apparently, the seventh years had arranged a party in the Common Room all night long, and everyone, and that means _everyone_, was invited. Mary and Marlene told me. They were the gossip mill of Hogwarts. Give them a white lie today, and they'll transform it into some gruesome tall tale circulating around the whole school by tomorrow. But something like this, wouldn't be a lie. I'd seriously given some consideration on going, but seeing as how my Potions grade wasn't as close to perfect as I would've liked, and the fact that I hadn't even touched the 24-inch essay we were supposed to write for said subject, I decided my time would be more well spent at the library.

Entering said library, I found nothing, and no one there to distract me. Darn. I sighed. No more excuses for me to put off writing the damn thing. I chose the table closest to the Potions section, dropped my bags there, and started perusing the bookshelves looking for a book on the Draught of Living Death or something of that nature. I was almost done with my essay (which I admi, I was quite proud of), when Mary and Marlene walked in. Now, under different circumstances, this would be completely normal, but seeing as how both of them had never willingly read a book more than 100 pages before, I was scared. They were making their way over to me...

--

**A/N: **-gasp- what are Mary and Marlene going to do to her?


	24. Chapter 24

They pursed their lips at me. And folded their arms, at exactly the same time. Seriously, how did they do that? Mary was the first to speak.

"Min," _I _pursed my lips. Min. Didn't like that one. "Why are you here?"

"Well, I was doing my es-"

"No, you are not," said Marlene. "You are coming with us, back to-"

"the Common Room." I sighed. I did _not _want to party and eat sweets and deal with drunk teenagers and frightened first years. I was too tired. I gave my watch a peek. It was nine. I was all worn out and ready to go to bed, at nine. Usually, I fell asleep sometime around eleven thirty. I yawned, more proof I needed to get to sleep.

"No thanks. I'd rather go to bed." In unison (like everything always was with them), Mary and Marlene's mouths dropped open ("Mary and Marlene's mouths", say that five time fast).

"Minns!" Mary all but yelled.

"Shh, it's a library." Mary gave me a look.

"You are not wasting your sixth year Halloween-"

"writing an essay and going to sleep." Their eyes widened at the same time, and they turned to each other, grinning evilly.

"In fact," said Mary,"we don't think-"

"you'll be getting any sleep-"

"at all tonight." Not good.

--

Surprisingly, it is very tiring to be forcibly dragged up two flights of stairs and through several hallways. We were right outside the Common Room; I could hear glass breaking. I grimaced. Mary and Marlene said the password, and dragged me in. Mary sent my bag upstairs with a spell I'd never heard of before and they pushed me into the center of the mayhem, then left. I thought about it for a moment, then started walking towards the staircase to the girls' dormitories. I got to the foot of the staircase, and somehow bounced right back into the party. Invisible obstruction. I didn't know Mary and Marlene were that good at Charms. Maybe they could tutor me. I sighed and went to sit on one of the couches.

All of a sudden, the same big, black dog I'd seen out on the grounds came barreling toward me and climbed up onto my lap. I stared at it for a second. Wow, I guess someone owned it. Didn't Hogwarts only allow toads, owls, and cats? I blinked. How in the world did someone pass this animal off for a _cat_? I decided not to think of it because I was too tired to puzzle over something. I sighed and started scratching the dog.

Then, he lept off and ran away. When a dog runs away from you, what does that mean? He came back about two minutes later, his nose pushing something in my direction. I picked it up. A bottle of firewhiskey? The dog seemed to grin, then opened his mouth wide open, his tongue hanging off. Dog tongues look really floppy. I think I just noticed that.

I looked at the bottle again, then at the dog, and pursed my lips. "I'm pretty sure dogs can't drink firewhiskey."

He whined and gave me the most adorable Sad Puppy Look I've seen in a long time. No wait, he gave me the most adorable Sad Puppy Look _ever._ Such a shame that I had to be responsible. And then, there's he possibility of me killing the poor thing. I didn't know the effects alcohol had on dogs.

I sighed. "No. You...are a dog. I have no idea what this firewhiskey might do to you." The dog jumped onto my lap again, and started to lick my face in a desperate attempt to get me to open the bottle for him. I laughed, because it was funny, and because it tickled.

He stopped eventually, and we lay on the couch. "So, doggy, what's your name?"

He blinked. I sat up. He sat up. He tapped me on the shoulder with his front paw. My eyes brightened. We were playing Charades. I love Charades. "Tap?"

It shook its head. It probably should have registered in my brain by now that dogs shouldn't know how to beg for firewhiskey, or play Charades, but I figured that maybe someone charmed this one, or maybe it was just extremely bright. He shook his head and patted me on the back. "Pat?" His paw touched my nose, and he was grinning. I was right.

Then, he wiggled his back leg. "Leg?" He shook his head. And shook his leg again. "Foot?" He barked. "Pat...foot. Patfoot...Padfoot?!" I don't know where I heard it before, but it seemed to fit, like the perfect missing puzzle piece. I smiled, and spent the rest of the night with Padfoot.

--

**A/N: **Hope you liked it, fellow Padfoot-lovers. :)


	25. Chapter 25

Ah, Christmas, how I love thee. I woke up, early this time, completely refreshed and happy. I'm not usually a morning person, but on a holiday (where I get presents), I was willing to make an exception. I threw off my blankets and sat up, my presents right below my swinging feet. Let's see, Zonko's stuff, candy, chocolate, more candy, new quills, a portable DVD player (from a Muggle cousin of mine, complete with a few DVD's), and...that's it. I looked around at my sleeping roomates, took my new portable DVD player, and a random movie, and walked down to the Common Room to watch it. It was empty. Perfect.

I was just getting to a really good part when Sirius Black comes down from _his _dormitory, sleepy-eyed, and still in pj's. He notices me and stops abruptly. I pause the movie. He makes his way over. I drum my fingers on the arm of the couch and lean my head back. He sits down next to me and rests his chin on my shoulder, trying to look at my present. I didn't mind, and pressed 'play' again.

"But, James," the actress said.

"James is the name of my best mate," said Sirius, conversationally. I blinked, and looked up at him.

"What?" he asked. I shrugged and turned my attention back to the movie.

"I thought we were-" the actress was cut off abruptly by 'James'.

"No, Eilene, we were never anything." 'Eilene' broke down into tears.

Sirius looked angry. "You, James, are not a nice person. Hmph." I ignored him.

James walked out of thye scene. "Hey! This James person ignored me! Hey you! Come back here!"

I laughed a little. "Sirius, this is a portable DVD player." When he didn't seem to understand, I said, "The people aren't _supposed _to be able to talk to you." Sirius frowned. "What kind of idiot came up with _that_?"

"A Muggle idiot."

"Oh." He quirked his eyebrow in that very cute-...Okay. You know what, never mind that last part. Just, just forget that I ever said anything. Ever.

I didn't feel like watching the movie anymore, and pressed 'stop'. We sat on the couch for a while, uncomfortably awkward.

"Uh...So...I'm going to head back up now..."

"Er...sure." I walked over to the staircase, and Sirius was right behind me. I looked at him. He just grinned. I ignored it and climbed the stairs. Seven steps from the ground, and then the steps just disappeared. The staircase turned into one of those Muggle playground slides. I fell over and slid down, bumping my head against Sirius' bare feet which were touching the-slide-formerly-known-as-the-girls'-dorms-staircase. He looked down at me.

"Ha, ha, very funny," I said. He just grinned and offered me his hand. He pulled me up, and we stood there, completely awkward, waiting for the staircase to change back. When it did, I shuffled up and disappeared back into my dormitory and scurried back to my bed.

--

I was running to class. Another tardy and Slughorn would kill me. I pushed myself faster. Stupid staircase changed and I ended up stranded on the seventh floor. You'd think a sixth would know her way around. Ah, a fork in the road (or corridor). Hm...right or left. Which way is faster? I looked around, and turned left. Big mistake. I slammed right into one Sirius Black. I almost fell backward, but he grabbed me by the shoulders.

"Er, thanks." Sirius was staring at something on the ceiling. What was it? I looked up, and almost died. Mistletoe. WHO WOULD MISTLETOE _RIGHT_ THERE?! WHAT KIND OF AN IDIOT RUNS THIS SCHOOL?! Oh, right, Dumbledore. Well, Dumbledore, you sir, are a crackpot. Sirius looked hesitantly at me, like I would explode from anger or something. But I was too late for class to do that. I gave him a peck on the cheek and ran off.

--

Sirius sat next to me at dinner today, and smiled a me, all the time. Whenever I looked at him, his stupid grin would ge wider. Like the Chesire Cat or something. At first, I couldn't figure out why he was smiling like that. And then, I still couldn't figure it out. He grinned. I frowned. He grinned wider. I frowned harder. His grin stretched so that all his front teeth were exposed. I crossed my arms, annoyed. Still, with that stupid grin on his face, he leaned closer to me, because he knew it would annoy me. His extremely wide smile was now a centimeter from my cheek. I ignored him and continued eating. Looks like Dumbledore isn't the only crackpot in this school. I took a sip of pumpkin juice. And then he pecked me on the cheek, exactly how I'd done it. I gasped, taken by surprise. He wrapped his arms around my waist and squeezed. Then he got up calmly and walked out of the Great Hall like nothing happened. I was still completely dumbstruck.

--

Oh, the gossip that spread. Even though not a lot of students stayed during the holidays, there were enough giggly girls to drive me mad.

Sirius and Remus were walking around in the corridors about a day after Sirius' little stunt. I walked up to them, blocking their way. I pursed my lips. Sirius seemed amused. I rolled my eyes and grabbed onto his tie, pulling him into an empty classroom as he waved Remus on, as if it were no big deal.

"So, Minns, what's up?" He smiled that smile. No, I mean, he smiled _that_ smile. Chesire Cat one. I said nothing, still fingering his tie. He came closer, but maybe that was because I might've accidently tugged on his tie. He took my hand and very slowly, plucked my fingers off of it (the tie, I mean), _that_ smile gone now.

I sighed, letting my arm drop to my side, and said, "Sirius, I need you to set everyone straight."

He gave me a blank look, clearly confused. I rolled my eyes and tried to clarify. "Tell everyone we are in no way involved with each other."

"Involved?" he asked, smirk completely noticable.

"Oh, shut up. You've heard the rumors." Not to mention the constant secretive smirks from Mary and Marlene.

"Yes," he said. "Actually, I heard one about you, me and a pink thestral."

I gave him a look. "Seriously."

"I'm serious, in both ways. I heard it from a fourth year Ravenclaw."

"You'd think a _Ravenclaw _would know better than that." He laughed. And I laughed too.

--

"Ahem." Sirius was standing on the table...where we eat. And no one was objecting to that. Seriously, what happened to hygiene and all that? With one clearing of his throat, Sirius had gotten the whole Great Hall to pay attention to him.

"Well, I would just like to inform you all that the rumors circulating about Minnie and I are untrue. Thank you," and he jumped off the table and resumed eating. I smiled and mouthed a 'Thanks' at him. He smiled back.

--

**A/N: **I swear this looked _so_ much longer on WordPad. Anyways, review! ...please?


	26. Chapter 26

There was really no one I could sit next to during dinner, or any of the other meals. All my friends were gone, even Lily, which I had _not _been anticipating, at all. Something about Petunia's wedding. So, I sat next to no one. And, upon seeing that I was alone, Sirius walked over to me, and Remus followed. Well, at least Remus was there. Sirius sat himself down and pecked my cheek. I felt myself blush, but just rolled my eyes at him. He smiled, clearly happy that he'd gotten me to redden. I frowned a little and lightly kicked him under the table. He kicked me back. And pretty soon, both our feet were sore and bruised.

--

Remus helped both of us back up to the Common Room, because our feet were that sore. One of his arms was slung around me and the other was around Sirius. Just a group of friends walking up a flight of stairs in pain. Pretty normal. Then I fell down the stairs. Not sure exactly how that happened, but the next thing I know, I'm back on the second floor and Sirius was running (well, limping quickly) toward me. Everything went black.

--

When I next woke up, there was a dog, lying right next to me on a bed. He was awake. I looked around hesitantly, pretty sure Madam Pomfrey wouldn't allow dogs in here. But she wasn't there. On the floor was...a pile of clothes?

"Padfoot?" The dog nodded. "Are those...?" He sat up and pointed his paw at himself.

"Oh, c'mon. You can't wear clothes." He barked softly, as if to disagree with me. I had been wondering how Padfoot always found me, and why he could understand me. I reasoned that maybe someone put some kind of charm on him. Like a spell to make him smart. I've seen some of those before. Except just never on animals, though Padfoot would hardly count as an animal. He was too...human-like for that. I smiled and scooped the dog into my arms. He licked my face and I giggled a little bit.

When Padfoot finally left, he carried the clothes away in his mouth and ran out. Crazy dog. I smiled wider.

--

Lily, Mary, and Marlene jumped off the train and made a beeline for me. They ran, their arms wide open and smiling. I stayed still and let them hug me. Or attack me, it was really the same thing.

"PRONGS!" Sirius yelled as James got off the train.

"PADFOOT!" I froze. And then, I suddenly remembered where I'd heard it before. It was Sirius' nickname. Oh. My. God.

--

"Padfoot?" Padfoot gave me an answering bark. I sighed. "Have you ever heard of...Sirius Black?" The dog seemed surprised, then slowly nodded. My eyebrows furrowed.

"...What do you think of him?" The dog quirked his head to the side and shrugged slightly. We were silent for a while. Me, staring at the grass; him, resting his head against my crossed legs.

"Do you like him?" He did that awkward quirked head shrug thing again. He placed his paw on my arm, as if asking 'How about you?'

"I don't know. Sometimes, he's such a git. But sometimes, he's...really funny, I guess." I chuckled a bit. "But don't tell him I said that, I'm supposed to be totally against his pranks." I scratched the dog's ears. He sat up and pointed his nose toward the Forbidden Forest. He had to go. I nodded, and he ran off.

--

"Hey, Minns," Sirius said as he slung an arm around me. I yawned.

"Yeah?"

"...Nothin'," he said. I gave him a questioning look. He smiled and walked away, whistling. Crazy 16-year old. I smiled.

--

Remus walked up to me, with an exasperated look. I opened my mouth to ask him why, but he cut me off.

"Sirius wanted me to ask you if you were a dog person." If possible, he looked even more annoyed after saying it.

I considered the repercussions of the answer I was about to give. I couldn't possibly figure out why in the world Sirius would care if I was a dog person or not. "Well, um, sure...I guess I am a dog person." Remus' hand went to his forehead, covering his eyes.

He patted me on the shoulder solemnly and said, "Good luck."

--

"Hey, Minns," Sirius said, starting the conversation exactly as he had yesterday, slinging his arm around me.

"Yeah?"

He grinned. "I heard you were a...dog person." It was more of a question than a statement.

"Yeah," I replied. "And...?"

He smirked and leaned in and whispered in my ear, "I'm a dog person too." I shivered a bit, and wondered if that was because of the cold. He walked away still smirking with his hands in his pockets.

--

"Minns?"

"Yeah, Abby?"

She blinked, and seemed to reconsider telling me whatever she was going to tell me. "Notheeng."

"What is it?"

"Notheeng!"

"Abby..." I said in a threatening, mother-ish tone.

She made a face. "Fine. I vas going to tell you zat you just took a sip out of Seerius' pumpkin juice but-"

"WHAT?!" I looked glass I was holding and then Sirius. He just grinned, as if he thought it was amusing. But, then again, Sirius thinks_ everything_ is amusing. Except maybe his mother but...yeah. I gulped and slowly put the glass down. He grinned wider and took a sip out of the _my_ glass.

"I hate you," I muttered. I got up to go back to the Common Room and start my homework.

Abby laughed. "I hate you too, Abby."

--

I looked out of the window of our dormitory. It was 6:23 on a Saturday morning and I couldn't sleep. Maybe I'd go play out in the snow for a bit.

--

The perfect snow fort. I looked at my watch. And it had only taken me three hours to build. Now if only I had someone to pelt snowballs at. I looked around and suddenly perked up. Prey sighted. Target locked. A flash of white in the air against a white backdrop, almost invisible. Landed perfectly on the head of a black haired boy. That and his black robes made him contrast brilliantly against the white and gray world. I smiled as he turned around and waved at him. Sirius smiled too, bent down, and scooped up some snow.

--

I shivered as we walked back up to the castle. Sirius stopped suddenly, and pulled me into a massive bear hug.

"Sirius...?"

"Body heat."

"Hm?"

"You're cold," he whispered. I shivered again and he held me tighter.

--

**A/N: **Writing about snow in July. Strange.


	27. Chapter 27

I tried to concentrate. Tried to. But Sirius won't let me. Not that he's doing anything noticably distracting. He's just sitting there, scratching his chin occasionally, tapping his fingers on the desk, blowing a hair from his face. The seconds ticked by, and I couldn't start my assignment. He absentmindedly ran a hand through his hair. His perfect, silky-to-the-touch hair. Not that I ever wanted to touch it. No, I have never harbored secret desires of touching Sirius Black's hair. Never. Ever. NEVER, I SAY! NEVER! He blew a hair out of his face again and I could feel his breath against my cheek. I shuddered, for no reason. And then I cracked.

"Could you stop doing that?!"

Sirius smiled. "I didn't know I _distracted_ you, Minnie." He lightly traced a circle on the back of my hand with his finger and was pleased to see my reaction. That is, me yanking my hand away. He smiled and grasped my hand again, this time brushing his lips lightly against it. I frowned at him, but I felt my stomach lurch.

"Sirius! Cou-"

"Shh," he said, smirking, "this is a _library_ Minns."

"Shut up," I muttered angrily.

"Yes, that's what I just told you to do."

--

For some reason, I found myself in Sirius' company more and more. And this time, he wasn't even stalking me. I was with him because...well, because...I'm not sure exactly.

--

So, I was sitting, scratching Padfoot's head when I saw Remus, James, and Peter come over, all looking completely bewildered. Remus looking more tired than usual today. I blinked.

"...Hey...?" Padfoot looked up at them, almost questioningly. Remus bent down to my level and motioned for Padfoot to walk over to him. Padfoot obeyed.

"Padfoot." He barked, and licked Remus' face. Like, _all over _Remus' face. Remus did not look amused. "Padfoot, what did we tell you about bothering girls?" If a dog can look insulted, Padfoot looked insulted. He stalked over to me and sat down on my lap, defiantly. James didn't say anything this whole time, just looked a bit curious. And Peter was standing there, confused. Maybe I should say something.

"Erm...so he's your...dog?"

They looked to each other, as if trying to explain.

"We adopted him," Remus started.

"Yeah," said James, "we found him on the grounds and decided to keep him."

"He likes to run around, so we let him out of the dormitory...all of the time," Peter added.

"And now here he is, bothering you. So, we're going to take him now and-"

"He's not bothering me," I blurted out. I kinda liked having Padfoot with me. He was...comforting. And fluffy. Comforting and fluffy. Like cotton candy. Except he pees. And cotton candy does not pee.

"Umm..." The boys looked at each other again, silently deciding what to do. James and Remus seemed to be arguing with their eyes, and Peter's were just following them, like a tennis match.

"Fine," said Remus, sourly, after about a minute or two of silent insistence on James' part. "Padfoot can stay. But he has to come home when the sun sets. I heard there are _werewolves _out on the grounds and tonight's a _full moon_." I quirked an eyebrow at Remus. Not because he seemed to be talking more to the dog than to me, but because of his emphasis on those certain words.

"Remus, are you...afraid of werewolves?"

He blinked. James and Peter seemed to be trying very hard not be break down laughing. And I was not understanding any of it.

"Sure," said James, grinning widely, "he cowers from werewolves. Can't stand the ugly sight of 'em," he snickered. Remus looked annoyed and jabbed James in the side with his elbow.

"Yes," he said in a flat tone, "I'm frightened of werewolves." Peter and James grinned broadly. Padfoot's tail was wagging.

--

So, it was another snow day and Sirius and I had made a habit out of getting up early on said snow days to throw snow at each other like wild beasts. It was fun. Especially that time when I shoved a chunk of ice down his pants. He got me for that one but it was so worth it.

Seven o'clock. Perfect. I set to work on my fort when I felt something cold collide against my neck. I turned around. There was Sirius, fort already set up complete with ready-made snowballs. That cheater. We'd made a silent pact. But of course, he was Sirius. Nothing was official unless you wrote it down. I grinned.

What ensued next would be known as the Chaotic Snow Day of Hogwarts. I believe the teachers still talk about it.

Well, it turns out one of Sirius' stalkers had decided to get up early in the morning to break into Gryffindor tower and watch him sleep. Halfway to the tower, she spotted him heading outside. She watched him from some bushes while he built a snow fort. Then, fifteen minutes later, I walk in, unable to see Sirius because he was hiding inside his fort. He bursts out, throws a snowball at me, and I attack him back and we're both rolling in the snow, laughing our heads off. We play around for another hour and a half while rabid Sirius fangirls gather in the bushes, some with binoculars. And those are the _mildly _scary ones. It was when I almost fell, and Sirius caught me, that sent them off the edge. They ran at me, angrily screaming their heads off and I stood there, eyes wide, and completely glued to the ground. Sirius saved me. By stepping in front of me. And they all stopped. Like, immediately. And started to fix their hair. Seriously. Siriusly.

"Alright, alright," he said, "calm down." The girls only got more frantic in their last minute hair-brushing. "I realize that with the rumors, you all are--" And then, failing to make themselves look any better, they sabotaged someone else's look. They started scratching each other with their extremely sharp and manicured nails. And, when Sirius and I tried to sneak past them, they saw. Sirius grabbed my hand and we ran, the fastest we possibly could, into the castle.

"Where are we going?" I yelled over the noise of the fangirls pursuing us (or him, really).

"Just trust me!" he yelled back.

He led us past the Great Hall, turned a few corners and ran straight into...wait, who was that?

"REGULUS!"

Right. Of course. He looks exactly like Sirius. Exactly.

"What?" he asked, looking annoyed. Sirius looked around. The screaming girls were just rounding the corner. He grabbed his brother's shoulders and turned him so that his back faced the fangirls. "Stay like that!" he yelled, grabbed my hand again, and we were off. Regulus was attacked by fangirls. That thought he was Sirius. I feel bad for him. For the next several hours, angry, insane girls turned the castle upside-down searching for one Mr. Black. And it wasn't Regulus. We hid in the kitchens. Sirius said it was a Marauder secret and I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. I wouldn't have anyway.

--

**A/N: **Ah, fangirls. Heh. Regulus. :D


End file.
